Have you ever found yourself in a situation where one issue absorbs the entire meeting and the other issues get pushed to the side?
The Executive and I were debriefing after the last Board meeting. The main item on the agenda was a consultant’s presentation on the pro’s and con’s of the unionization of the staff. The consultant talked for about 40 minutes, which led to a heated Board discussion for another 40 minutes. By that time, the other items on the agenda were rushed through or put off till the next meeting.
What was the result of the 80 minutes spent on thisw one issue? We learned that board members have very strong opinions, one way or another, about unions. We also decided that more discussion were needed. No decisions were made. Everyone was involved. There was good interaction, but it was a one issue Board meeting. There were no resolutions.
In light of these results, we agreed that a better approach would have been to create an ad hoc committee to study the subject, have the consultant meet with the committee, do whatever other study was needed, and then bring the recommendations to the Board.
This is an example of a Board acting as a committee. In the meantime, other strategic issues were ignored or tabled.
Lesson learned: if you have a controversial or complicated issue, study it first in committee, then bring the recommendations to the Board. If they do not agree, they can always send it back to the committee for review. If someone on the Board is very invested in the issue, let them join the committee.
Tags: Barrie, board agenda, Board meeting, journal